Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda picked Fumio Kishida, the science policy minister, to take on the additional role, government officials said.

The appointment was in line with last month's passing of a new law allowing the use of outer space for defence, breaking a decades-old taboo amid increasing concern about military threats in the region.

"I feel a serious responsibility as expectations for space development are quite high," Kishida told a news conference.

While Japan has no current plans for a new defence project in space, the new law aims to remove any legal obstacles to building more advanced spy satellites and to help innovation in the country's space industry.

The government plans to introduce various space policies under the leadership of Kishida, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said.

Proponents of the legislation argue that it is necessary as Japan has fallen behind other nations in space technology, particularly as China moves to capture space business in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

But critics, including the opposition Japanese Communist Party, had argued that it could lead to a stronger military.

Japan's US-imposed post-World War II constitution says the country will never again wage war. Japanese troops have not fired a shot in anger since 1945, although the country has one of the world's largest defence budgets.

Tokyo has stepped up military research after North Korea stunned the world in 1998 by firing a missile over the Japanese mainland into the Pacific.

Japan has also expanded its space programme and is now conducting the world's most extensive mission to the moon in decades.

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